Appreciating our open spaces

Buderim Village Park

Sunshine Coast Council, Queensland, recently launched their Environment and Liveability Strategy to maintain the liveability of the region.

Planning Portfolio Councillor, Christian Dickson, said a key priority of council’s Strategy was to maintain the rate of 5ha per 1000 residents and ensure an equitable distribution of publicly accessible open space by 2041.

“The Sunshine Coast has long been known for its outstanding natural assets, landscapes and lifestyles. Now it is also one of Queensland’s fastest growing regions and one of the 10 most significant urban areas in Australia.

“While our region continues to grow, it will be exposed to changes that will present both opportunities and challenges for our future.

Cr Dickson said while the Sunshine Coast’s natural green environment was regularly talked about, open spaces, such as parks and sports grounds, were often taken for granted.

“We want to encourage the community to appreciate and enjoy the region’s diverse open space network and take advantage of the active healthy lifestyle it enables.

“Open space is the network of land and water that supports recreation and sport, trails and paths, nature conservation and visual relief from the urban environment. These open spaces complement and contrast with the built environment.

“It provides spaces for enhancing landscape and character values, supporting biodiversity and ecological services, and active and passive sport, recreation and cultural activities.